Hello,
I have decided to build my first Unraid NAS! I am getting closer to having an idea about what to buy, but at this point, I could really use some more experienced guidance on how to move forward. Keeping the price low is most important! I am definitely open to grabbing used parts from eBay.
IN A NUTSHELL
Over the past 4 years, I have accrued ~25TB of video data. It all lives on 7 enclosures, each with a pair of mirrored drives, all in RAID1. The first 4 are hardware RAIDS, and the last 3 are software RAIDS. This is my total drive inventory that is in use: 2x 1TB, 4x 2TB, and 10x 4TB. I also have 2x 6TB drives and 1x 4TB drive that I can wipe. The make/model of the drives include HGST, Hitachi, Seagate Barracudas, and WD Reds. The age varies dating back to 2012— the smaller drives being the oldest.
GOAL
To build a NAS with 2 disk parity. Ultimately, I want to end up with an array of 16 drives: 11x 4TB drives, and 5x 6TB drives. The smaller drives (1TB and 2TB) will be recycled into various other uses. Shares will primarily be accessed via smb on Macs. I would like to be able to do video editing with files stored directly on the NAS. I am constantly ingesting footage, which I would like to do quickly. For this, I plan on setting up a 10GbE connection (maybe peer-to-peer). Only 1 video editor will be hitting the NAS at any given time.
APPS
Nextcloud or OpenVPN
Duck DNS
CloudBerry (for Backblaze back ups)
What else❓
BUILD
In order to save on cost, I was thinking of first setting up the NAS with a 6TB parity drive and a 4TB storage drive. That would then allow me to transfer all of the footage from one of my 4TB RAID1 enclosures, which would free up 2 more 4TB disks. I would then add a 2nd 6TB parity drive and a 2nd 4TB storage drive. Then, I would repeat the process until all of my data has been moved off of the 2 disk enclosures to the Unraid array.
HARDWARE
This is where I need help! Here's what I am considering for my server build:
Case - This holds 18 drives by default: https://www.newegg.com/black-fractal-design-define-7-xl-atx-full-tower/p/N82E16811352118
Motherboard with 2-3 PCI-e x4 slots and ECC support. But which one❓
CPU: Something that is compatible with my mobo... but how beefy does it need to be❓
HBA Card: Non-RAID 16-port SAS: https://www.amazon.com/IO-Crest-Controller-Green-SI-PEX40097/dp/B00XI4OL82/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=HBA+16+port&qid=1587421999&s=electronics&sr=1-1 - Will this work❓
10GbE SFP+ cards: https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GC-AQC107#kf - I think this is compatible with Mac Pro❓
10GbE SFP+ card: Another card that's cheaper because it's going into the NAS.
PSU: 500W - Any suggestions on make/model... or just what's cheapest at an 80 Gold rating❓
RAM: ECC modules: 8GB, 4GB... how much do I need❓
Onboard video (IPMI not necessary): for initial boot and setup.
A pair of 8GB thumb drives
Any and all suggestions and wisdom would be very much appreciated.
THANK YOU!